Billie Eilish is calling out other A-listers for staying silent about the chaos unfolding in Minneapolis amid ICE’s ongoing presence in the city.
In a Monday morning (Jan. 26) post on her Instagram Story, the pop star shared a photo of herself looking quizzically at the camera. “hey my fellow celebrities u gonna speak up?” she wrote over the snap.
Shortly prior, Eilish had reshared a couple of posts about the death of Alex Pretti, whom an ICE agent shot and killed Saturday (Jan. 24) during an immigration enforcement operation. The Donald Trump administration has claimed that the officer was acting in self-defense, alleging that Pretti was threatening violence with his handgun, but multiple videos taken by witnesses on the scene show that Pretti did not appear to be holding his gun during the confrontation, and that a federal agent had already seemingly removed it from Pretti’s holster before the 37-year-old Minneapolis man was shot. Pretti’s family said that the ICU nurse had a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Minnesota, according to the Associated Press.
The nine-time Grammy winner’s brother and frequent collaborator, Finneas, shared his take on the situation in a video, which Eilish reposted on her Story. “The conservative argument that allows school shootings to continue has always basically boiled down to, ‘We have to protect the Second Amendment,’” the visibly heated producer says in the clip. “Every argument I’ve seen for why Alex Pretti’s death was justified yesterday is like, ‘Well he had a gun.’”
“Shut the f–k up!” Finneas continues in his video. “This guy was being beaten to a pulp on the ground. He didn’t draw his weapon. He had a weapon on him legally. And they still shot the f–k out of him!”
Both Eilish and Finneas have been vocal in their opposition to ICE’s continued occupation of Minneapolis, which has now resulted in two civilian deaths. A few weeks prior to Pretti’s death, Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent in the city; similarly, the Trump administration claimed that the officer in that incident, Jonathan Ross, had been acting in self-defense, while witness footage contradicted that he’d been in danger.
“We’re seeing our neighbors being kidnapped, peaceful protesters being assaulted and murdered, our civil rights being stripped,” Eilish said while accepting the 2026 MLK Jr. Beloved Community Award For Environmental Justice on Jan. 17, adding that many Americans “no longer feel safe in our own homes or in our streets.”
One star who has joined Eilish in speaking out is Olivia Rodrigo, who also posted about the violence unfolding in Minneapolis over the weekend. “ICEs actions are unconscionable but we are not powerless,” she wrote. “our actions matter. I stand with Minnesota.”
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